A 13-year-old Carson City girl was killed Monday when she collided with a tree at Heavenly Mountain Resort, less than an hour before the resort closed at 4 p.m.
Alisha Lynn Main was not wearing a helmet when she hit the tree while snowboarding with her father, according to El Dorado County Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Watson.
Main's father was ahead of her on Skyline Trail, which connects California to Nevada near the top of the mountain, when he looked back and discovered she was missing, Watson said. He trudged back up the trail and found her unconscious by the tree around 3:15 p.m.
Ski patrol members tried to revive her and continued CPR efforts down the Heavenly Aerial Tram where an ambulance waited to transport her to Barton Memorial Hospital.
Main was declared dead at the hospital about an hour after the accident, Watson said. An autopsy is scheduled but Watson said he thinks she died from head trauma.
Debbie Elder had Main as a student in her second-period eighth-grade math class at Carson Middle School. Elder recalled how Main, usually dressed in gothic clothes, appeared in "regular" girl clothes last Halloween.
"She was her own person," Elder said. "She liked to do things the way she liked to do them."
A smart and popular student who knew the answers but sometimes didn't do her homework, Main also cared for younger siblings, Elder said.
"She had a lot of friends, and it's going to devastate some students I can tell you that much," Elder said.
The matter is under investigation by authorities, including the U.S. Forest Service.
"Everyone at Heavenly Mountain Resort extends our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the deceased," stated Spokeswoman Molly Cuffe.
Monday was a hectic day for emergency personnel. Hard-packed snow conditions contributed to several injuries at ski resorts and sledding hills, including a broken femur at Heavenly which occurred about the same time as Main's accident.
Contact reporter William Ferchland at wferchland@tahoedailytribune.com